Croquet has been a popular sport for many years. However, it is believed that the popularity of the game could be increased by providing a novel croquet set which is illuminated, to permit the game to be played in the dark.
While others have attempted to illuminate various sports; equipment by coating the equipment with fluorescent paint, or other luminous substances, prior art techniques have several drawbacks. First, the luminous coating can affect the play of the ball or the mallet head in the setting of the game of croquet.
In addition, most luminous paints and the like do not give off a sufficient quantity of light for an adequate amount of time.
Other types of "glow in the dark" substances require the application of light to the substance, before the equipment will be illuminated. In such cases, the amount of time which the sports equipment "holds" the glow is quite limited.